With time running out, rooftop solar employees take to the lobby

By Kyle Roerink

Tuesday, May 12, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Employees of Nevada’s rooftop solar industry sent a clear message to lawmakers Monday: raise the cap on net metering.

More than 70 rooftop solar employees stormed the halls and offices of the Legislature, urging their representatives to pass a bill allowing more NV Energy customers to supply electricity to the grid, power their homes and reduce their monthly power bills with net metering.

Less than 25 days remain in the session and time is running out for the solar industry to ensure the state can continue net metering by raising the current 3 percent cap on the policy, which has helped define Nevada as the state with the most solar jobs per capita in the nation. If lawmakers don’t increase the cap, the rooftop solar industry says it will come to a halt by the end of the year and cut thousands of jobs.

The solar workers' lobbying effort is the latest in what’s been an ongoing, high-profile debate between the solar industry and NV Energy, the state’s dominant power provider. Despite the attention, there’s been no legislative committee hearings or votes on any bills to raise the cap. There have been a handful of meetings with Gov. Brian Sandoval and legislative leaders but few hints of optimism for the solar industry.

That inaction shapes a David vs. Goliath battle that pits consumer choice versus NV Energy's regulated monopoly. Solar workers and lobbyists say thousands of jobs and a growing industry will be in jeopardy if lawmakers fail to act by the end of session. The workers who arrived in Carson City are employees of companies that supply more than a third of Nevada’s 6,000 rooftop solar jobs: SolarCity and Sunrun.

The workers, many of whom have been in the industry for less than a year, represent Northern and Southern Nevada and are better known for climbing rooftops and hooking up small, residential solar panels to the grid. Their presence — exemplified by a wave of people clogging the hallways wearing lime green shirts, hardhats and pins emblazoned with “save my solar job" — signaled the industry will use all options to increase the cap. But it also showed the difference between the solar employees and those who are in the Legislature every day of the session.

Many solar employees had not seen the inner workings of a Legislature and didn’t fit the typical mold of lobbyists.

Johnnie Mechikoff, a Carson City resident who works for SolarCity in Reno, waited outside of the Senate chambers to accost his representative. He had reservations about confronting lawmakers as he walked throughout the building.

“There is a lot of power here,” he said.

A dozen solar workers squeezed into the tiny office of Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, D-Las Vegas, imploring her to take action.

“We need a champion, Ms. Swank — somebody that will stand up and fight for us,” said Thomas Brown, a SolarCity employee for five months.

Swank, whose party is in the minority of legislative leadership, advised the solar workers to find a Republican to be in the forefront of the cause. She said that solar is the way of the future but the utility needs to be a part of the conversation.

“We need to make sure that whatever comes out is balanced,” Swank said after the solar workers left her office.

For NV Energy, net metering is a policy that cuts into their business model like none other. The credit — which compensates participants for the energy they provide to the grid — is panned by the utility as a ratepayer-backed subsidy that only benefits a small portion of its base. The consumer-driven generation and supply of energy is something that few consumers have ever been able to do in the U.S. before rooftop solar emerged. The utility has championed large scale solar projects in the state. It currently buys energy from eight solar facilities in the state and facilitates a program that offers rebates for purchasing home solar units. But those units — which can cost more than $10,000 with the rebate — become affordable for most with net metering. Companies like SolarCity and Sunrun lease the installations to consumers. The savings that come to consumers via the net metering credit is how the solar companies justify their business model. Right now more than 2,500 NV Energy customers reduce the cost of their utility bills via net metering.

NV Energy’s parent company, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, has fought net metering across the nation. Warren Buffett, the owner of the Berkshire Hathaway Energy and billionaire who purchased the utility in 2013, is thought of by many in the solar industry as the man behind the effort to stop the policy.

In Iowa, a Berkshire subsidy tried to ban solar leasing, but the Iowa Supreme Court rejected the case. In Washington, a Berkshire subsidiary pushed legislation to ban solar competition with legislation but failed. It also attempted to add fixed costs for rooftop solar customers without success. A Berkshire subsidiary in Utah tried to enforce fees on solar customers through the PUC and legislation but failed on both.

Few options remain for the solar industry. A lawmaker could submit an emergency measure to raise the cap. An amendment could be attached to a bill that still exists in the legislative process or the governor could call a special session to address the matter after June 2. An option for NV Energy would be adding a fee for NV Energy net metering customers. both the solar industry and the utility would also like the Public Utilities Commission to have cap-lifting authority rather than the Legislature.

Assemblyman Randy Kirner, R-Reno and chairman of the chamber’s Commerce Labor and Energy committee, said he spoke to solar employees on Monday but had no news to offer.

“We don’t have a bill on net metering,” he said. "We’ll look at it when we have a bill.”

Net metering, for many in Carson City, isn’t a top priority. A new tax plan and budget passed by both chambers have yet to land on Sandoval’s desk, pushing net metering down the list of priorities for lawmakers.

But solar workers are resigned to seeing a bump in the cap.

Christopher Franklin, a SolarCity employee for seven days, sat in the office of Senate Republican leadership, waiting to talk to the state’s most influential lawmakers. He shuffled from office to office in an attempt to talk to lawmakers throughout the day.

“My livelihood is at stake,” he said.